Stolen

by Rebecca Muddiman

  Abby closed the laptop and realised she hadn’t actually posted the message. It didn’t matter, whether she did or not it wouldn’t change anything. It wouldn’t close any doors. She’d still see his face when she closed her eyes. Only now she’d see a ghost.

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  Gardner put the leftovers in the fridge knowing that they’d probably sit there for a week or so before being thrown in the bin. The fridge was full of perfectly good fresh food that could be made into something edible but mostly it was just easier to get a take-away. Cooking for one seemed pointless. Depressing even.

  For the past few hours he’d been trying to find someone who knew Helen around the time Beth disappeared. The house she lived in now - or had done until he’d spooked her - wasn’t the same house she lived in with Ridley in 2005. He’d been to her old address but the neighbours on one side had only been there a year and the woman on the other side only vaguely remembered Helen. She remembered her being pregnant. She remembered her moving out, baby in tow. But she knew nothing about Helen losing her baby. She hadn’t even known her name until Gardner had told her. The neighbours further down and across the street were even less help. No one knew a thing about Helen Deal. And, he guessed, that was just how she liked it.

  Eventually he got up and looked at the files stacked up. He needed to go over the stuff on Miklos Prochazka, to prepare for the interview tomorrow. He had more background stuff on Helen Deal to sift through. But he also had another missing girl needing his attention. Atherton had promised him some extra pairs of hands but those promises were frequently broken and, besides, he felt like he had to see them through himself, felt responsibility for them all. He couldn’t remember feeling this tired and alone for a long time. And that was saying something.

  He reached for the case file, and wondered if Chelsea Davies was alone. They were no closer to finding her. He was no closer to finding her. The media had been speculating that the girl must be long dead by now but Gardner knew that wasn’t always the case. True, the longer a missing person went unfound the more likely it was that they were dead but it didn’t mean that they were dead. Look at Beth Henshaw.

  He flicked through the notes, trying to find something he’d missed. Another search of houses was due to start in the morning; unfortunately he wouldn’t be there to coordinate it. Hundreds of properties were to be looked at again, and the perimeter was to be widened to include many more. So far they hadn’t had any resistance from residents about going through their homes. For lack of a better lead, Gardner would start interviewing key witnesses again. They’d start with Chelsea’s family and friends, and on from there for as long as it took.

  Closing the folder, Gardner yawned and stood up. He was kidding himself that the answer was there and, anyway, he was so tired that even if there was a full confession in there somewhere he doubted he’d even see it.

  He went into the bedroom and lay down on the bed, fully clothed. The guilt was eating away at him. Part of him wanted to admit the truth to Abby, that he’d fucked up, that one little mistake had led to five years of misery. Why hadn’t Cartwright been thorough? Why hadn’t he followed up? If they’d looked closer at Helen back then, Beth would’ve been returned to her parents. Abby’s life wouldn’t have been ruined.

  He turned onto his side. But what good would the truth do her now? It would destroy her. It would make her lose all faith in him. They were on the right path now, that was all that mattered. He’d start fresh tomorrow and maybe then something would happen. They’d search more properties for Chelsea. He’d speak to Miklos Prochazka and maybe he’d lead them to Helen Deal. Something would happen tomorrow.

  As he drifted off to sleep he thought: something has to happen.

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  Gardner looked through the window at Miklos Prochazka. He looked nothing like his cousin, there was no family resemblance. Where Damek had been tall and slim with dirty blonde hair, Miklos appeared shorter, stockier, with hardly any hair at all. He sat slumped forward in the chair, his fingers gripping the table edge. As Gardner entered, the man looked up like a startled animal. Gardner stifled a yawn and took the seat opposite Miklos.

  ‘Who are you?’ Miklos asked.

  Gardner watched him carefully. He was clenching his fists, quickly and constantly. He’d already been told that Miklos had confessed. When they’d picked him up from his flat he’d cried and nodded his head like he’d been expecting them to come. But Gardner wanted to hear it himself, wanted to know the whole story. He’d admitted being involved in the assault on Abby and the abduction of Beth, but he’d yet to give any real details.

  Gardner took out his notebook and pen and watched Miklos squirm. For a man who’d already confessed he seemed awfully jittery. A confession led to a strange calm in most people.

  ‘I’m DI Gardner,’ he said. ‘I was in charge of the investigation into the rape of Abby Henshaw and the abduction of Beth Henshaw.’

  Miklos nodded. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said and looked Gardner in the eye briefly before returning his gaze to the table.

  ‘Sorry for what?’ Gardner asked.

  ‘For what I did. For that little girl and her mother.’

  ‘I’d say it’s a bit late for sorry,’ Gardner said and Miklos bowed his head further. Abby had confirmed that it was Damek who had raped her, she’d even admitted that Miklos had helped her out of the van afterwards, had seemed less sure of what he was doing. And yet Gardner could feel no sympathy for the man, had no time for his apologies.

  ‘Did she get her back?’ Miklos asked.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Did the woman get her little girl back?’ Miklos asked again.

  ‘No,’ Gardner said and wondered why he wouldn’t be aware of that, whether he was lying. Miklos closed his eyes, his mouth moving as if he was praying. Gardner didn’t want him to have the comfort of prayer so he moved on. ‘I want you to tell me what happened. Why you did it.’

  Miklos opened his eyes. ‘She asked us to do it. She paid us. I didn’t know about the baby. She didn’t tell me about the baby,’ he said.

  ‘Who paid you?’ Gardner asked.

  ‘The woman from the house. Helena,’ he said. ‘She made us do things for her. She paid us money so we did it. But I didn’t know about the baby. I swear.’

  ‘What was her second name? The woman from the house?’ Gardner asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Miklos said, shaking his head. ‘I swear I don’t know.’

  Gardner nodded and moved on. It didn’t matter, he already knew her name. ‘You said she made you do things, like what? How did she make you do them?’

  ‘She hired me and Damek to do work on the house. She caught me going through her things. She said she would call the police and I begged her not to.’

  ‘You were stealing from her?’ Gardner asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Miklos said and looked away again. ‘She told us to leave but then the next day she called again and told us to come back. She didn’t like being alone with that man she lived with.’

  ‘Alan Ridley?’

  Miklos shrugged. ‘I don’t remember his name. But when she had her baby, we stopped going there for a while. Then one day, weeks later, maybe more, Damek told me to go and get in the van. Said she had another job for us to do. I thought we had to go back to finish decorating but we went to a house and we just sat there. I asked Damek what we were doing but he wouldn’t say. Then after a little while he got out and went and slashed the tyres of the car at this house.’ Miklos looked at Gardner. ‘I said why did you do that but he wouldn’t tell me.’

  ‘Did you find out whose car it was? Gardner asked.

  ‘He never told me but I recognised it later. The day... it happened.’

  ‘The day you attacked Abby Henshaw you mean? It was Abby’s car he damaged.’

  Miklo
s nodded and then shrugged. ‘I don’t know why she wanted it done. She didn’t say who this woman was.’

  ‘So why did you agree to it?’

  ‘She said she’d call the police about the stealing. She never told me the things she wanted us to do. Always Damek. He didn’t care what he did if she paid him money.’

  ‘What else did she have you do?’ Gardner asked.

  ‘We broke into a house. I don’t know who lived there; it was another house, not the woman’s–’

  ‘Abby’s,’ Gardner said and Miklos nodded.

  ‘She told Damek to break in and to make a mess. He broke a window in the back; we went in and he took something. He started to break things but then I saw a neighbour and told him we should leave. He told Helena that we’d done it anyway,’ he said.

  ‘What else?’ Gardner asked and Miklos shook his head. ‘That was it?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said.

  ‘What about Alan Ridley?’ Gardner asked and Miklos looked down. ‘You never did anything to him?’

  Miklos shook his head. ‘No.’

  ‘What about Damek? He do anything?’

  ‘No,’ Miklos said again.

  ‘That’s funny because Mr Ridley claimed you intimidated him, threatened him. He said he thought Helen had asked you to do it, that she’d told you lies about him.’

  Miklos looked at the floor. ‘She didn’t like him. She said he wasn’t nice. I couldn’t understand why he was there, why they were together. They shouted all the time. But I never did anything to him. Never.’

  Gardner thought about it. He’d already admitted what’d happened to Abby and Beth, to damaging Abby’s car, to breaking into Simon’s house. Why lie about threatening Ridley?

  ‘What about Damek? You said he didn’t care what he did? Maybe he threatened him when you weren’t around,’ Gardner said and Miklos shrugged.

  ‘Maybe. I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I didn’t see anything.’

  ‘Alright,’ Gardner said, ‘let’s move on. Helen had already got you to slash Abby’s tyres, to break into the house. You agreed because you didn’t want her to call the police about the stealing, is that right?’ Miklos nodded. ‘So when she came and asked you to attack Abby and take the baby, why did you agree? You must’ve known you could’ve ended up in more trouble than you would about stealing a few pounds from her purse.’

  ‘I didn’t know,’ Miklos said, his eyes pleading. ‘She never told me things. She always went to Damek. He came to me and said we had another job to do. This was a few months later. I asked what it was and he wouldn’t tell me until the day. He told me to drive and we stopped at the pub. I kept saying “what are we doing here?” but he wouldn’t tell me. Then all of a sudden he tells me to start driving again. He said that we had to follow someone and we had to frighten her.’

  ‘And you just went along with it?’ Gardner said.

  ‘I didn’t want to,’ he said. ‘But Damek showed me the money she’d given him. It was a lot. I thought we could take the money and leave.’ He shrugged. ‘I didn’t want to work for her anymore.’

  ‘How much was it?’ Gardner asked.

  ‘Five thousand pounds,’ Miklos said. ‘A lot of money.’ He wiped the sweat from his top lip. ‘Damek said it would be easy. All we had to do was wait for the woman to drive past and then follow her. I was driving and Damek said to follow, to drive close to her and then he said to go past her and knock her.’

  ‘To force her off the road?’

  Miklos nodded. ‘I knew it wouldn’t hurt her. Just scare her. When I started following her car I remembered it was the one Damek had slashed the tyres on. I thought this woman had done something to Helena and she was getting her back.’ He shrugged. ‘No one got hurt before so I thought that would be it.’

  ‘And you didn’t think that five thousand pounds was a lot of money for something so easy?’

  Miklos took a deep breath. ‘Yes, maybe,’ he said. ‘But I was greedy. I just wanted the money.’

  ‘So then what happened? You’d forced her off the road, why did you get out? Why not just drive away?’

  ‘He told me to stop. I was confused at first. I thought we were done but he shouted at me again to stop. I thought maybe something had happened, that she was hurt. I thought he’d seen it and was going to check on her.’ Miklos shook his head. ‘I should’ve known he would never do anything like that. He was selfish. He didn’t care about anyone but himself.’

  Gardner waited. He was trying to work Miklos out. He seemed sorry. He seemed to have been carrying guilt around. So why hadn’t he come forward earlier?

  Maybe because people always look out for themselves.

  ‘I stopped the van and Damek said we had to go and get her. I asked what he meant and he said we were supposed to get her and put her in the van. He said we’d drive her away and leave her somewhere. She’d be scared. That was what we were supposed to do. I didn’t want to, I tried to argue but he got out. I stayed in the van and I saw the woman get out of her car. She walked towards Damek and said something and then he hit her.’ Miklos winced at the memory. ‘He knocked her to the floor and then pulled her towards the van. I got out and I was shouting at him. I heard her say something about a baby, I thought she was pregnant. I told him to stop but he wouldn’t listen. And then I saw the baby in the car.’

  Miklos looked Gardner in the eye and his face crumpled. ‘I shouted at him and said she was there. The woman was screaming and telling him that her baby was in the car but he wouldn’t stop. He shouted at me, told me to get her in the van. He didn’t acknowledge the baby at all.’ Miklos looked at the floor again. ‘I didn’t know what to do. I helped him get her in the van. I thought someone might come. Someone might see us.’

  Gardner saw a tear roll down Miklos’ face. ‘We got her in and I waited for Damek to climb out but he didn’t. I knew what he was going to do and I just shut the door and drove away. I didn’t try to help her at all,’ he said.

  ‘He’d done it before?’ Gardner said and felt his stomach tighten. ‘He’d raped someone else?’

  ‘Yes,’ Miklos said, his voice coming out as a whimper. ‘Back home.’

  ‘He wasn’t convicted?’ Gardner asked.

  Miklos shook his head. ‘No. He always got away with it. No one would go to the police, they were scared of him.’

  ‘So you knew he was a rapist. You knew what would happen when you put Abby in that van and yet you did nothing.’

  Miklos started crying. ‘I know I deserve to be punished. I’m as bad as him.’

  Gardner stood up; he needed to be away from Miklos for a few minutes, to leave him to wallow in his own guilt for a while. He walked out of the interview room and into the toilets. The window was open and a cool breeze blew through the small space. He splashed some water on his face. Why was this so hard? He already knew what had happened to Abby, why was it so difficult hearing it from Miklos? Hearing this shit was never easy but he could usually distance himself, always step back and take in the facts, keeping the emotions separate.

  Miklos’ tears, though he believed the emotion behind them, made it worse somehow. He pitied himself, was opening himself up for redemption, forgiveness. But as far as Gardner was concerned he wouldn’t be getting any. He’d wondered how Abby had felt when he’d told her about Damek. He wondered if she felt cheated. He knew he did. And yet, here was the other culprit, offering himself up for punishment, for everything the law could throw at him and all he could think was he wished Miklos had been murdered in a squalid flat too.

  Chapter Seventy

  Gardner went back into the interview room and took his seat. Miklos had stopped crying but he didn’t acknowledge Gardner’s return. He sat still and only when Gardner spoke did he move.

  ‘Who took Beth Henshaw?’ Gardner asked and Miklos looked at him a
s if he didn’t understand. ‘The baby? Who took her from Abby’s car?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘We didn’t take her. I guess Helena took her but...’ He shrugged. ‘I never knew.’

  Maybe that was true. It made sense that she’d do it herself. She’d want as few people involved as possible. And a woman taking a baby from a car would look less suspicious than two builders.

  ‘Maybe it was the man,’ Miklos said and Gardner’s head shot up.

  ‘The man?’ he said. ‘What man?’

  ‘The father.’

  ‘Alan Ridley?’ Gardner said and Miklos shrugged again. ‘You said, maybe it was the man. Who were you talking about?’

  ‘After we left, when I saw on the news that the baby had gone missing, I told Damek we should call the police. We could call anonymously, tell them about Helena. But he wouldn’t. He’d told me that he didn’t know about the baby in the car, that Helena hadn’t told him about her. But later Damek said he’d heard Helena talking to a man about their baby. Something about them going away together. They were moving I think. She was saying “you’re her father”. She was upset,’ Miklos said. ‘Damek thought she was trying to get back together with him.’

  ‘Ridley?’

  ‘I guess,’ Miklos said. ‘Damek said the baby in the car must’ve been hers. Damek said maybe she wanted Ridley to get her and they would move away. But I saw on the news. It wasn’t her baby. So I said to Damek: why would they take someone else’s baby? They had their own baby.’

  ‘Helen’s baby died,’ Gardner said, trying to make sense of what Miklos was telling him. By the time Beth was taken, Ridley was long gone. So who was she talking to? Would Helen have asked him to come back? She said that he was the father. Helen may well have been delusional enough to think that Beth was really her daughter; she’d named Beth after her dead baby like some kind of replacement. Was it possible she thought that Beth really was Casey, that Ridley was her father?